Pharmacy & Officine Chartered Accountant

The accountant's engagement for a pharmacy covers the bookkeeping of the officine, the allocation of sales by VAT rate and the VAT returns, the reconciliation of third-party payments, the account review, the annual accounts and the tax return. Depending on the needs of the licence-holding pharmacist, it extends to payroll under the community pharmacy collective agreement, to the choice between sole ownership, SELARL, SELAS and SPFPL, and to the purchase or sale of the officine. The firm is based in Paris 8th, and the engagement can also be carried out remotely.

This scope starts from what sets the accounts of a French community pharmacy (officine) apart from those of a medical practice. Profits from operating an officine are taxable as industrial and commercial profits (BIC), not as non-commercial profits (BNC): sales are attached to the financial year in which they take place, and stock is valued at each year-end. Sales are split across several VAT rates, part of the turnover is paid by the national health insurance fund (Assurance maladie) and by complementary insurers, and stock ties up cash.

How these entries work (chart of accounts, reading the balance sheet, how the margin is built) is explained in detail in our guide to community pharmacy accounting. This page presents the engagement itself: scope, onboarding, reporting during the year and fees.

Bookkeeping and VAT at several rates

The books are kept from the exports of the pharmacy management software (LGO), bank statements, invoices from laboratories and wholesale distributors, and the payment statements for third-party payments. The ongoing work focuses on three points:

• allocating sales by rate: 2.1% for reimbursable medicines, 10% for non-reimbursable medicines, 5.5% for an exhaustive list of products (including certain assistive devices for disabled people on the LPP list of reimbursable products and services, certain equipment for people with diabetes and feminine hygiene products), and 20% for products taxed at the standard rate, such as cosmetics. Dispensing fees attached to a reimbursable medicine in principle follow the 2.1% rate;
• reconciling third-party payments: what was invoiced to the Assurance maladie and to complementary insurers, what has been paid, and the rejections to be reprocessed;
• preparing and filing the VAT returns, at the frequency that applies to the officine.

Our view. In a pharmacy, the first check is whether three figures agree: the sales by rate exported from the LGO, what has been booked, and what has been declared, both when a file is opened and when it is taken over from another firm. As long as those three figures do not say the same thing, the reported margin and the declared VAT remain fragile.

Account review, annual accounts and tax return

At year-end, the engagement includes the review of the accounts, the check of the stock count and its valuation, the monitoring of fixed assets (goodwill, fittings, equipment) and, where there is one, of the acquisition loan, followed by the preparation of the annual accounts and the tax return. Under sole ownership, the profit is declared as BIC. If the officine is operated by a company subject to corporate income tax, the return is the corporate income tax return and the owner's remuneration is dealt with separately.

Pharmacy payroll (IDCC 1996)

Pharmacy technicians (préparateurs), assistant pharmacists and apprentices are covered by the national collective agreement for community pharmacy of 3 December 1997 (IDCC 1996). The payroll engagement includes payslips prepared under this agreement, the monthly nominative social security returns (DSN), and employee starts and departures. It is priced separately, according to headcount. The service is presented on the payroll and HR page.

Sole ownership, SELARL, SELAS or SPFPL

The framework comes from the French Public Health Code. The pharmacist, or the company, must own the officine of which they are the licence holder (titulaire), and may own or co-own only one officine. Liberal-profession practice companies of community pharmacists (SELARL, SELAS) are governed by Ordinance no. 2023-77 of 8 February 2023 and by articles R. 5125-14 et seq. of that code: more than half of their capital and voting rights is held by pharmacists who are licence holders of the officine operated. A liberal-profession financial holding company (SPFPL) of community pharmacists may nonetheless hold that majority, provided its own majority is held by licence holders of the officine.

Within this framework, the engagement compares, with figures, operating under sole ownership and through a company: taxation of the profit, social security status and remuneration of the owner, cost of the conversion, financing of a share purchase. If the company route is chosen, the firm prepares its incorporation and, where relevant, that of the SPFPL. The trade-off between salary and dividends is the subject of a dedicated engagement: director's salary and dividends.

Buying, bringing in a partner and selling an officine

These one-off engagements are priced separately, on a quote:

• when buying: review of the seller's latest accounts, of the margin by product family and of the stock, a cash-flow forecast that includes loan repayments, the choice between buying the business assets and buying the shares, then the incorporation of the operating company. See the acquisition audit and company formation services;
• when a partner joins: value of the shares, allocation of the capital in line with the ownership rules specific to pharmacists' companies, effect on each partner's remuneration;
• when selling: valuation of the officine, the choice between selling the business assets and selling the shares, the accounts for the year of sale.

The sale documents are drafted with your lawyer or your notary. The steps of setting up, from the project to the signing, are described in the guide to setting up in a community pharmacy.

The first step depends on your situation:

Everything starts with an engagement letter. Decree no. 2012-432 of 30 March 2012, which governs the practice of chartered accountancy in France, requires a written contract that defines the engagement and sets out the rights and obligations of each party. The engagement letter sets the scope (bookkeeping, payroll, one-off engagements), the fees and what each party provides.

Changing firm during the financial year is possible. The takeover runs as follows:

1. You describe your situation and send the first documents.
2. Before accepting the engagement, the firm informs your current accountant, as article 163 of the decree requires. The same article asks the new firm to try to obtain, before starting the engagement, proof that the fees owed to the previous firm have been paid.
3. The engagement letter is signed.
4. Your former firm facilitates, with your consent, the handover of the file. The items taken over include the latest tax return, the latest annual accounts, the accounting entries file (FEC) or the general ledger for the current year, the loan repayment schedule, the fixed asset register and the payroll file.
5. The bookkeeping resumes from the last validated period.

Points checked when a file is taken over

• agreement of sales by rate between the LGO, the accounts and the VAT returns already filed;
• old or unsettled third-party payment receivables;
• the valuation of the last stock count and the treatment of expired products;
• the loan amortisation schedule and the fixed asset register;
• the application of the collective agreement on payslips (coefficients, seniority).

The general process is also described on the changing accountant page.

Once the documents have been sent and the books are up to date, the reporting covers the figures used to run the officine:

• turnover by VAT rate, reconciled with the LGO;
• margin by product family: reimbursable, non-reimbursable, parapharmacy;
• third-party payments not yet received and rejections to be reprocessed;
• cash position and upcoming payments (VAT, loan, social contributions);
• stock level between two stock counts, when the LGO provides it.

The content and frequency of this reporting are set out in the engagement letter. The meetings during the year are used for decisions: year-end, remuneration, investment, a new partner joining.

For an officine, the fees for the accounting engagement are from €450 excluding VAT per month. That amount covers bookkeeping, the allocation of multi-rate VAT and the VAT returns, the reconciliation of third-party payments, the account review, the annual accounts and the tax return.

Priced separately: payroll for the pharmacy's employees and one-off engagements (acquisition audit, valuation, incorporation or conversion of the company, sale).

The amount retained depends on what the review of your documents shows:

The quote is drawn up after reviewing your documents, on your actual volumes. The firm's general price list is on the pricing page.

• the latest tax return and the latest annual accounts or, for a purchase, those of the seller;
• an LGO export showing sales by VAT rate over a recent period;
• bank statements for the last few months;
• the number of employees and the latest payslips;
• the operating structure (sole ownership, SELARL, SELAS, SPFPL) and, where relevant, the articles of association;
• for a purchase project: the officine's information pack and the planned financing.

If some documents are missing, a written description of the situation already makes it possible to prepare the right questions.

Hayot Expertise is based at 58 rue de Monceau, Paris 8th, with a second office in Noisy-le-Sec. The engagement is carried out under the responsibility of Samuel Hayot, a chartered accountant (expert-comptable) registered with the Ordre des experts-comptables Paris Île-de-France and a statutory auditor (commissaire aux comptes) registered on the list drawn up by the Haute autorité de l'audit.

Files are fully digital: LGO exports, bank statements and invoices are sent online, and day-to-day exchanges take place in writing. An officine located elsewhere in France can be handled the same way. Decision meetings, which are useful before a purchase or a sale, take place at the firm's office or remotely. In Paris, before a purchase, the commercial lease (rent, remaining term, renewal conditions) is among the first documents read, because it weighs on fixed costs and on the value of the officine. See also our chartered accountancy practice in Paris 8th.

For a first setup, a file takeover, a move to a company or a sale, write to the firm through the contact page, describing your situation and, if possible, attaching the documents listed above. The firm comes back to you with the proposed scope or the questions to clarify before the quote.

This page describes the engagement. The tax and legal rules mentioned apply according to your situation, reviewed on the documents and in light of the rules in force.